25 Facts About Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (2023)

Stanley Kubrickthe radianceis widely considered one of the best film adaptations of aStephen KingHistory - and for good reason. (Though King himself isn't a huge fan.) Even if you've seen the movie 100 times, you probably still don't know much about what was going on behind the scenes.

Stanley KubrickHe is known for his forays into different genres, and horror was a genre that piqued his interest early in his career. In the early 70's it wasconsideringjudgeThe Exorcist, but in the end he didn't get the job because he only wanted to direct if he could produce. Later, Kubrick told a friend that he wanted "to make the scariest movie in the world, with a series of episodes that tap into the nightmarish fears of the audience".

2.the shinewas inspired by an episode ofGenerally.

In 1952, Kubrick worked as a second unit director on an episode of the television seriesGenerally🇧🇷 But it was another episode where the poker players fight that inspired parts ofthe shine.

"They think the point of the story is that his death was inevitable because a paranoid poker player would end up in a deadly shootout."Kubrick saidthe result. "But in the end you find out that the man he accused actually set him up. I thinkthe shineuses a similar type of psychological deception to avoid realizing that supernatural events are actually happening."

According to David Hughes, one of Kubrick's biographers, Stephen King wrote a complete draft of the screenplay forthe shine🇧🇷 However, Kubrick didn't even consider it worth a look, which makes sense considering the director once.describedKing writes "weak". Instead, Kubrick worked on the script with Diane Johnson because she was a fan of her book.shadow knows🇧🇷 Ultimately, the two worked on the script for eleven weeks.

4. But Stanley Kubrick still had questions for Stephen Kingthe shine.

A now-legendary story that King still tells in some of his book readings is this: Stanley KubrickI call it7 in the morning. to say that he believes that ghost stories are inherently optimistic because the existence of ghosts indicates that people have survived beyond death. When King responded by asking how hell fits into this image, Kubrick simply responded, "I don't believe in hell."

The executive producer ofthe shineit was Kubrick's brother-in-law, Jan Harlan. Christiane Kubrick and Vivian Kubrick, Stanley's wife and daughter respectively, helped with the design and music, although Vivian is perhaps best known for the documentary she directed.The Rise of the Illuminated.The 30-minute film, broadcast on the BBC, was a very rare glimpse into Kubrick's directing style. (You can see above).

6. Stephen King Was "Disappointed" With Stanley Kubrick's Film Adaptation.the shine.

1983 Konigsayingplayboy, "I've long admired Kubrick and have high expectations for the project, but I was sorely disappointed with the end result. Parts of the film are terrifying, filled with relentlessly claustrophobic horror, but others remain flat."

One thing King didn't like was the cast.Jack Nicholson🇧🇷 "Jack Nicholson, although a good actor, was totally wrong for the part," said King. "He played his last major roleOne flew over the cuckoo's nest, and between that and the maniacal grin, audiences automatically identified him as crazy from the very first scene. But the book is about Gradual by Jack Torrancesonsthe Overlook goes mad under its malevolent influence: if the guy goes mad from the start, the whole tragedy of his downfall is wasted.

Kubrick hated flying and refused to leave England at the end of his life, so he was not present in the opening credits ofthe shineThey shot at us. A second team from the unit flew to Glacier National Park in Montana, where they filmed from a helicopter.

8. Room 217 has been moved to room 237the shineat the request of Timberline Lodge.

In the book, the spooky events take place in Room 217, not Room 237. Oregonrefuge in the forest, which served as the exterior of the hotel for some shots, is to blame for this change. The hostel management requested to change the room number so that guests would not avoid room 217. There is no room 237 in the hotel so this number was dialed. Timberline Lodge websiteComments, "Interestingly and somewhat ironically, Room 217 is requested more often than any other room on Timberline."

The iconic phrase actually had its meaning changed for foreign translations of the film, at Kubrick's request. Translated into German versions, the phrase means: "Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today". The Spanish translation is: "Even if you wake up early, it won't dawn earlier." who wakes up early lives a golden day".

10. There are many rumors that Stanley Kubrick actually wrote all those pages of "All the Work".

No one is sure whether Kubrick wrote 500 pages of "All work and no play makes Jack a boring boy." Kubrick did not go to the props department with this task, instead using his own typewriter to create the pages. It was a typewriter with built-in memory, so it could turn pages without a real person. But the individual pages of the movie contain different layouts and errors. Some claim that it was characteristic of the director to prepare each page individually. Sadly, we'll never know: Kubrick never addressed this subject before he died.

Kubrick was famous for being a particularly detail-oriented director. So if Jack Torrance is seen reading aplaygirlin the Overlook lobby before being hired, it probably doesn't make sense. There is an article about incest in the issue, so the mostcommon theoryis that Kubrick subtly hinted that Danny may have been sexually abused. OtherArticleOn the cover is announced "Interview: The sale of(Starsky e Hutch)'s) David Soul. Perhaps Kubrick interjected an additional omen. No ordinary hotel leaves copies anywayplaygirlout there, so the magazine immediately serves as a warning sign in the film.

12the shinewas Danny Lloyd's only film.

the shineit seemed to be featuring a promising child star in Danny Lloyd. Two years later he had a role in a TV movie, but that was the extent of his acting career. "We tried for several years... until I was in high school and I dropped out when I was about 14, with almost no success," he said.sayingTo dieTagesnachrichten do New Yorkerin 2013. However, Lloyd had a brief appearance as a spectator indoctor sleep, the sequel to 2019's Mike Flanaganthe shine.

To protect Lloyd, who was 5 years old when he made the film, Kubrick told him that they were filming a drama. He didn't even see the movie until he was 16. "Personally, I don't think it's scary because I've seen it behind the scenes," Lloydsaid later🇧🇷 "I know it can be ironic, but I like funny movies and documentaries."

14. Jack Nicholson improvisouthe shineThe "Heeere's Johnny" line.

Jack Nicholson is responsible for the only linethe shineto enter AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes. While filming the scene in which Jack breaks down a bathroom door with an axe, Nicholson shouted Ed McMahon's famous line.The Tonight Show com Johnny Carson🇧🇷 The catchphrase worked and stayed in the film. Some behind the scenes photos show Nicholsonsmethodical actionbefore the iconic scene is filmed.

In addition to ad-libsing one of the film's most famous lines, Nicholson wrote an entire scene. He felt a particularly deep understanding of Jack Torrance's abuse of his wife as he tried to write.

"That's the way I was when I got divorced," says Nicholsonexplainedin interview withThe New York Times dies🇧🇷 "I was under the pressure of being a family man with a daughter and one day I got a job making a film during the day and I was writing a film at night and I was back in my corner and with my lover, Mrs. Sandra found out what, unbeknownst to her, this lunatic was, and I told Stanley about it and we wrote on the spot."

16. Stanley Kubrick Couldn't Make Itthe shineEstrella Shelley Duvall.

Although Kubrick got along well with Nicholson, the director was notoriously brutal with Shelley Duvall during filming. At theyour words, “From May to October, I was very sick from the stress of the role. Stanley pushed and pushed me harder than I've ever been pushed before. It's the hardest role I've ever had to play."

The scene where Wendy throws a bat at Jack is an example of this impulse. The scene really nailed it.O Guinness Book of Recordsbecause it took 127 takes, the most for a scene with spoken dialogue.

Slim Pickens had previously worked with Kubrick. He played Major T.J. king kong inDr. Strangeloveor: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb🇧🇷 Regardless, it was a particularly odd choice for the role of Dick Hallorann given that the character is black in the book. Pickens chose not to work with Kubrick again because he disliked the gruelingDr. Strangeloveshoot Next, the role went to Scatman Crothers.

18. The Overlook Hotel has no sense of space.

Rob Ager, a big fan ofthe shineHe realized that there are many aspects of the Overlook Hotel game that don't make sense. For example, Ullman's office has a window to the outside, but there are rooms around the office, making that window impossible. This is the case with many windows in the movie: they don't work in context. There's also a hallway in the Colorado Lounge that basically appears out of nowhere. Ager created a video showing the absurd images.

The executive producer ofthe shine, Jan Harlan, stated that this was intentional. "The interiors don't make sense"he saidin 2012. "These huge halls and ballrooms wouldn't fit. In fact, nothing makes sense."

Towards the end of filming, a fire broke out, destroying several sets.Correspondingphotographer on set: "There was a big fire there one night, a huge fire, we never really found out what caused that fire and it burned down two sound stages and threatened a third at Elstree Studios. It was an Elf Alert firework, it was huge. " It is estimated that one of these sound stages cost $2.5 million to rebuild.

there is a famousphotoby Kubrick laughing at this wreck. Maybe he's laughing because he knows the novel ends with the Overlook Hotel burning down.

20the shine900 tons of salt are needed.

And that was just for the last scene! at the end ofthe shine, Jack chases young Danny through a snow-covered maze before finally dying. It took a lot of salt and chopped styrofoam to create the artistic winter maze.

Kubrick was known for his long film productions. Sources differ on how long the actual shoot lasted, but it likely lasted close to a year. Back when I was making the Kubrick moviethese, “There is a wonderfully suggestive reality [that the structure] of cinema imposes on your life. I'm doing exactly the same as when I was 18 and I made my first film. It frees you from any other notion of time.”

22. The original ending toothe shineIt's different than what you've probably seen.

It's not uncommon for a film's ending to change in post-production, but Kubrick changed the film's ending.after thisit's been in theaters for a weekend. The film version has been lost, but pages of the script exist. The scene takes place after Jack dies in the snow. Ullman visits Wendy in the hospital. Oshe says, “About the things you saw at the hotel. [A lieutenant] tells me that they really went through the place with a fine-tooth comb and didn't find the slightest hint of anything out of the ordinary." He also encourages Wendy and Danny to stay with him for a while. The film ends with a lyric about Black: "The Overlook Hotel would survive this tragedy as it has endured so many others. It is still open from May 20th to September 20th each year. Closed in winter."

Roger Ebert thought the cut was a good decision.According, "Kubrick was right to remove that epilogue... he pulled out a lot of story rugs."

After that, things didn't look good for Kubrick.barry lyndonwas released in 1975. Film critic Tim Robeywritten, "It was not the commercial success Warner Bros. had hoped for." The film cost $11 million to produce and grossed $9.5 million in the US, although it did well at the foreign box office. According to Hughes, the film would have to gross $30 million to be profitable.

the shinehe was much better off financially. The film cost $19 million to produce and grossed $47 million in the United States. It was one of the top 10 highest-grossing films of 1980.

24the shineIt has inspired many conspiracy theories.

Many film theorists have their own opinions.the shinethat these conspiracies star in their own film: the documentaryZimmer 237🇧🇷 One theory is that Kubrick helped to fake the moon landing andthe shineIt's your confession. Another claims that the film is actually about the genocide of Native Americans. Another theory reads the film as a story about the Holocaust and concentration camps.

Leon Vitali, Kubrick's personal assistant during filming, has since denied these theories. "I laughed out loud most of the time," he said.theseof the documentary in 2013. "There are ideas proposed in the film that I know are utter nonsense."

Lee Unkrich CorreOr Hotel Mirador, which contains tons of behind-the-scenes footage and information about the film. "I started the site for purely selfish reasons," said Unkrich.said vulturein 2013. "I collected things fromthe shineover the years, and I just wanted a place to put them.” Unkrich was also one of the people who helped finance this.Zimmer 237Documentary.

But arguably the funniest part of Unkrich's obsession withthe shinefind the references hidden in differentPixar-Movie, includedToy Story 3: Sid's rug is very similar to a rug the Hotel Mirador. garbage truck license plateleeward"RM237". And Trixie is chatting online with a toy dinosaur down the street who happens to have the screen name Velocitar237.

A version of this story was originally published in 2018 and has been updated for 2022.